


So Here We Are

by lingering_l0v3z



Series: There's plots on the ceiling [2]
Category: The Queen's Gambit (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Family Fluff, Friendship, Post-Canon, Romantic Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-18 20:40:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,732
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28624236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lingering_l0v3z/pseuds/lingering_l0v3z
Summary: Beth turned from the platter of hors d’oeuvres she was assembling on the kitchen counter and was seconds away from wiping her hands of crumbs when Benny walked by. He dropped a quick kiss on her head before continuing towards the door with a muttered, “I got it.”
Relationships: Beth Harmon & Everyone, Beth Harmon & Jolene & Benny Watts, Beth Harmon/Benny Watts
Series: There's plots on the ceiling [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2097519
Comments: 10
Kudos: 123





	So Here We Are

The doorbell sounded across the home loud enough to be heard over the blaring TV. 

Beth turned from the platter of hors d’oeuvres she was assembling on the kitchen counter and was seconds away from wiping her hands of crumbs when Benny walked by. He dropped a quick kiss on her head before continuing towards the door with a muttered, “I got it.”

“Well,” Cleo drawled from beside her. She too helped in preparing the New Year’s feast that they would be consuming during the countdown. “You’ve sure got that man wrapped around your...hmmm...what do they say?”

An amused smile sprang on Beth’s lips. “I don’t know. Finger?”

“Oui, finger. These colloquialisms do get the best of me.”

She pondered the words for a second before shrugging. “Perhaps my gentleman-like manners have rubbed off on him over the years.” 

“Ma cherie, fashion and makeup may polish our image, but never have I met another with as wild a personality as yours.” 

Beth turned to her friend then and let out a small laugh that matched the model’s. Perhaps she was right, he could be rude and arrogant, but Benny had always been a gentleman to her. 

She thinks back to that morning when he swiped her queen from the board too early in the game. Well, for the most part he was a gentleman. 

~

Benny opened the door and just as quickly made a show of closing it on Jolene’s face. He didn’t need to see her to know who was there. She was the only one missing from their small get together. 

Before the door slammed shut, a boot was shoved between the door and the frame. 

“Hello to you too, Cowboy.” Jolene greeted as she shoved the door open, not at all bothered by the rude gesture or the fact that Benny had yet to let her in. Their friendly heckling was a normal occurrence when they were within a city’s radius from each other. 

“Fashionably late as always, Homewrecker.” Always a dig at her choice in lovers. 

“No longer a homewrecker if he’s already left the wife, Whitebread.”

Benny opened his mouth to respond but didn’t get a chance when he heard Beth’s stern voice closer than he expected. 

“Let my sister in, Benny.” She didn’t wait for him to move and instead positioned her body between the two most stubborn people she actually chose to associate with. Looking up at him, she tapped a finger on his sternum. “Behave.”

At his noncommittal shrug, she turned towards Jolene. “You too.”

“Hey. Wasn’t me tha-” 

“Don’t want to hear it.” Beth interrupted as she opened the door further to allow her sister in and pulled her in for a quick hug. “Swear you two are like children.”

Jolene pulled back and eyed her with an accusing lift of her eyebrow. “We the children? Cracker, last week you nearly cried when your favourite dress ripped while we were at lunch.”

“And threw a tantrum when we misplaced several of the pawns for the living room chess set,” Benny chimed in as he waited for them to shuffle out of the way of the closing door. 

Instead of answering, Beth grabbed the serving plate nestled in Jolene’s hands and twirled on her heel towards the kitchen while waving a dismissing hand at their accusations. “These better be the puff pastries I’ve been craving!”

The shifting eyes of Benny and Jolene stared at Beth before landing on each other in a conspiratorial way. They could rib at each other all they wanted but Beth was always more fun to try and rile up. 

“Come on. Let’s get you comfy.” Benny walked towards the living room where the rest of their friends were gathered. 

“In this chess infested house?” Jolene teased. “Never” 

They stepped into the living room and Jolene greeted the others from where she stood. Wexler and Levertov were already huddled around a chessboard while Harry hovered nearby. Sitting on the couch having an animated chat about, well probably about chess, was the twins, Townes and a bored yet supportive Roger. 

When Beth lived in her childhood home alone, it was already teeming with chess. Strategy books lined the shelves, boards laid open in every room and multiple trophies littered the surface of Alma’s piano. Now that two players who were both US Champions and now Grandmasters lived in the home, it simply overflowed with the sport. 

Shelves were added to accommodate Benny’s magazine and book collections, and tournament cups now sat on nearly every flat surface and windowsill. 

Of course, Beth hated it when anything was distasteful to the eye, so she frequently positioned photos and mementos between the cups to make it more pleasing. Many of the photos were of family, friends and because it was inescapable, of the couple at chess tournaments. 

It was an improvement from the dreary scene Jolene had first seen years before when she first visited. 

After being seated on one of the couches, she glanced over at her sister who is currently balancing two plates as she entered the room all the while trying to dodge Benny’s hands as he tried in vain to offer help.

Yeah, even the happiness of the house occupants was an improvement from what Jolene had seen years before, even if one of them was a cosplaying cowboy. 

~

The rest of the night passed in a blur as rounds of speed chess were played and food was eaten. The TV continued to blare of romantic comedies which Cleo and Jolene yelled at more than watched due to their less than progressive plots and perspectives on women’s roles. 

Before any of them knew it, the time was minutes before countdown and the single bottle of bubbly that was brought into the normally alcohol barren home was uncorked. Glasses were offered all around and when one was extended to Beth she cautiously declined. 

“Oh sorry,” Harry said as he quickly pulled the arm holding the flute back. “Thought you had a single drink sometimes.” 

“I do.” Beth sat on the arm of the sofa chair that Benny was lounging on. She ushered Harry forward and coaxed the flute from his grasp then immediately handed it to Benny. “But that’s not why I can’t drink.”

Benny’s free arm reached around her waist and landed on the middle of her abdomen giving it a stroke. Something in Beth’s eyes lit up as they collided with the blonde-haired man and she gave Benny a smile which he immediately returned. 

Her hand encased his and together as it remained on her stomach. 

It didn’t take long for Jolene to put all the pieces together. An almost crying Beth. When was she ever known to cry? Cravings for desserts. A more-than-normal hovering Benny. No alcohol. Lengthy eye activity. And the hand.

“Holy shit, you’re doing the hand thing,” she commented hysterically, quickly standing from her position now sprawled on the floor. A finger pointed towards the couple. “The obnoxious hand thing with the stomach.”

For a lawyer, she wasn’t being very elegant in her observations, but at least one other person in the audience understood what she was trying to convey. 

“Is that why you didn’t wear the dress I sent you?” Cleo chimed in from the love seat surrounded by her two boys. “I sure hope it will fit after. It is an original piece.” 

Cleo looked at the baffled and inquisitive stares of Wexler and Levertov. “Oh, come now, boys. Surely chess and sex are not the only things you understand.”

Roger and Townes leaned closer to the couple who in all this time were still sitting on the sofa chair quietly. 

“Well she does have that glow,” Roger chimed in. 

“Oh,” Harry mumbled in slight confusion before his voice rose in pitch and his eyes widened in realization. “Oh! Beth are you...Benny...did you?”

Taking his time, Benny pulled Beth closer until she was practically sitting on his lap. Again, he kept his hand on her before answering cryptically. “Did I what?”

“I think he’s trying to ask if you knocked me up,” Beth said bluntly as she smiled brightly at Benny. 

“Crass,” Benny scoffed, but smiled, nonetheless. “But true.”

In a rare moment of public affection, Beth placed a quick kiss on Benny’s lips.

“Surprise,” Beth said with a hesitant smile as she turned towards their friends, her voice inquisitive and waiting for their reactions. 

After a moment of silence, the house filled with screams and congratulations.

Jolene hauled Beth from Benny’s lap to give her a hug as Benny stood to accept congratulations from the others who had surrounded them.

“How long has it been? Can’t believe you didn’t tell me sooner.” Jolene hissed as Beth laughed. “I mean not that I’m surprised the way you go at it like bunnies.” Beth let out an embarrassed groan at that comment.

“Congratulations.” Townes chuckled as he shook Benny’s hand. “I have to tell you though that while it won’t be me spilling the news, the press is going to get a whiff of this. It’s not everyday two US champions have a baby. They're going to have a field day.”

Townes didn’t explicitly state it, but Benny knew exactly why they would be such a scandal outside of the fact that they were well known in the chess community. Benny grumbled thinking about how much media dodging they would have to do and the fury that would be Beth once they started publishing on ‘unwed mothers’ instead of the joy that was their baby. 

“The two of us will fight them off. Would have married her long before she got pregnant, but Beth moves at her own pace. I’ll wait for as long as she needs.”

“She’s ready for a baby, but not for a ring?” Matt surmised side-eyeing his twin and giving Benny a handshake. “Sounds about right for Beth. We’re happy for you both.”

Beth turned to the boys in indignation at hearing their conversation. “Don’t have to be a wife to be a mother.” Then she caught Benny’s gaze seeing love and support swimming in them. “But maybe one day.”

When the group settled and the countdown ended, cheers erupted for the second time that night. The champagne was toasted not only to another year of knowing one another but also to the growing Harmon-Watts family.


End file.
